The Flute-Playing Donkey

Tomás de Iriarte

This little fable,
whether good or poor,
came to mind just now
by sheer chance.

Near some meadows
not far from here,
a donkey happened by
pure chance.

There he found a flute
a shepherd boy
had left behind
by chance alone.

The animal stepped close
to sniff the thing,
and with a sudden snort—
quite by chance—

a breath of air slipped
into the flute,
and the flute gave forth
a note by chance.

“Ah!” said the donkey,
“how well I play!
And they call
donkey music bad!”

Without the rules of art,
there are little donkeys
who now and then succeed
purely by chance.